Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 56 of the Government's Defence Command Paper, where the £2 billion allocated by his Department to the Future Combat Air System will be spent.
Answer
The 3-year Concept & Assessment phase will commence in 2021 with a full business case commitment by 2028 that will include details of applicable production arrangements. The Concept & Assessment phase is vital to the FCAS Programme, as we conduct the work needed to narrow down options and provide supporting evidence. The Programme aims to deliver an Initial Operating Capability by the mid-2030s.
It is too early to say where work will be undertaken, but industrial partners estimate that over 1,800 new STEM jobs have been created in over 300 companies nationwide, sustaining and supporting a sector which employs tens of thousands of workers across the UK. Tempest will exploit our industrial base to create a next generation combat air enterprise. The early preparatory work of the FCAS Technology Initiative and Team Tempest had an aspiration to secure employment for 1,800 people directly supporting the programme. Based on information from our industrial partners we believe that estimate has been exceeded, with over 2,000 people now engaged in Tempest enterprise activities alone.
In December 2020 the UK, Italy and Sweden signed the FCAS trilateral MOU. This enabling MOU signals the start of a long-term partnership that will allow us to begin the critical trilateral R&D work as part of the FCAS Concept and Assessment phase in 2021. It is too early to say where specific components of Tempest will be built.